Physicians frequently recommend that babies who are suffering from colds or other forms of head congestion sleep with their head slightly elevated. However, this is often easier said than done. Modern baby cribs are not generally well suited to modification of the sleeping position, which is generally horizontal and flat. (As used herein, the term xe2x80x9cbabyxe2x80x9d is intended to encompass both infants and toddlers, children under the age of about three or four who most often sleep in cribs designed for the safe sleep of babies.)
A common recommendation for achieving an elevated head position is to place some books under the head end of the crib mattress. This rather crude approach is often difficult to accomplish and can yield a wide variety of results as little guidance is given as to how high the end should be raised, and judgment can vary from one person to another. Moreover, modem crib design demands that the crib mattress fit snugly into the crib with little of no gap between the mattress and the side or ends of the crib. This tight fit is deemed necessary to prevent trapping hazards to the baby, but it also can make the mattress difficult to grasp and raise in order to insert the books or other objects under the mattress. Therefore, home expedients such as books under the mattress are awkward at best and potentially unreliable.
It is known that infants born prematurely often suffer from serious breathing problems that require that they are maintained at a fairly steep angle of head-raised incline, generally prescribed as an angle of thirty degrees. Devices having an incline of thirty degrees are available and designed so that the entire body of the infant is placed onto the inclined plane of the device. Because the angle is quite steep, it is necessary to provide some means for holding the infant in place and prevent their rolling off. This has been accomplished through the use of side barriers, straps, etc. The device of the present invention is not intended for use in such cases, nor does it provide sufficient inclination for such treatment, but rather is designed to raise the head of the baby slightly above the remainder of the body.
It is generally believed and recommended that the inside of a baby crib be kept as free as possible of extraneous loose objects that could in any way present a smothering, choking, trapping, or other danger to the baby. It is therefore generally not desirable to introduce pillows or other sleeping devices directly into the crib sleeping space. Moreover, there is always a potential for soiling any device or object that is used in a manner in which it comes into direct contact with the baby.
The present invention overcomes the limitations of the prior art devices and provides a safe and simple means for elevating the head end of a crib mattress to assist a baby suffering from head congestion to achieve safe and restful sleep.
The present invention an easy to use device that can be easily inserted under the head end of the crib mattress to elevate a baby""s head as necessary. The device does not require removal of the mattress to be inserted, and is not placed inside the crib sleeping area, but rather is inserted under the mattress where it can present no hazard to the baby in the crib. Insertion and removal of the device is sufficiently simple that it can actually be accomplished while the baby is already in the crib if desired with very little, if any, disruption of the baby.
The device includes a generally wedge shaped, multi-tined fork like structure having sufficient rigidity and strength to be inserted from outside the head end of the crib directly under the crib mattress. The individual tines or fingers of the device are spaced apart in a manner to correspond with the width of the vertical bars of the crib, thus allowing the fingers to slip between the crib bars and under the mattress. The width of the individual tines is chosen to be slightly narrower than the space between the individual vertical bars of the crib, thereby providing as much width and strength as possible while allowing the device to be inserted from outside the crib.